KEENE STATE SNEAKS PAST WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL, 3-2

BOSTON, Mass. – The Keene State women's volleyball team erased a 2-0 deficit to come-from-behind and pick up a 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-11) win over host Emmanuel College in non-conference action Tuesday evening in the Jean Yawkey Center Gymnasium. The Owls improve to 5-5 on the year while the Saints fall to 1-9 overall.

After trailing 7-1 to start the match, Emmanuel rallied in the first set to storm back and even the score at 11-11 following a KSC attacking error. The Saints took their first lead of the frame on a kill by freshman setter Samantha DeMarco (Rockland, Mass.) to go ahead 21-20 and the hosts held on for the 25-22 win to go ahead 1-0.

In the second set, EC jumped out to an early 4-1 behind the service game of sophomore setter Carly Church (Higganum, Conn.) but Keene State regrouped and responded with a 9-1 run to take a 10-6 lead midway through the frame. The hosts fought back and again evened the score at 11-all before taking the lead for good on the next point with the help of a Keene State service error. Senior middle hitter Kaitlyn Atkinson (Brookline, N.H.) and freshman outside hitter Marissa Cataldo (Melrose, Mass.) each posted three kills during the set.

Emmanuel appeared to be on its way to a 3-0 sweep, leading 11-7 during the third set before the Owls kicked things into another gear. Keene State freshman middle hitter Hannah Syzmanski (Greenwood Village, Colo.) and junior middle hitter Courtney Collins (Litchfield, N.H.) established a strong game at the net with four kills each in the set to help Keene rally for a 25-22 win and make it 2-1 in the match.

Riding the momentum, the Owls kept the pressure on in the fourth set playing stellar defense which forced Emmanuel to hit a negative -.045 in the frame, helping Keene secure the 25-17 win.

In the decisive fifth set, the squads traded points to a 5-5 score before Keene posted back-to-back points on an Emmanuel attacking error followed by an ace from sophomore libero Riley Bunker (Simi Valley, Calif.) to give KSC a 7-5 cushion. An Atkinson kill would pull EC to within one at 7-6 but it's the closest the hosts came as the Owls gutted out the 15-11 win for the 3-2 victory.

Keene State junior outside hitter Rachel Lamica (Malone, N.Y.) led all players with 19 kills to go along with 13 digs for a double-double while Collins finished with 11 kills. Junior setter Katie Cunningham (Nelsonville, N.Y.) collected 46 assists and 17 digs while Bunker was tremendous on the defensive front with a match-high 34 digs.

Atkinson paced the Emmanuel offense with 12 kills and a .444 hitting percentage while sophomore Mary Shelow (Miami, Fla.) added 10 kills. EC had five players with double-digit dig totals led by a team-high 27 from senior libero Sarah Schemerhorn. Church collected a double-double with 18 assists and 13 digs while DeMarco added 21 assists.

The Saints return to action tomorrow evening when they face another Little East Conference opponent in Plymouth State University at 7:00 PM while the Owls are back on Thursday when they take on GNAC foe Johnson & Wales University at 7:00 PM in Keene, N.H.